90 STAR FISH. 



There should always be plenty of camphor kept in the 

 drawers, otherwise there is great danger to be apprehended 

 from mites : where these exist, they are easily discovered by 

 the dust which is under the insects by which they are infested. 

 In which case, they must be immediately taken out,, and 

 rubbed clean with a fine camel's hair pencil, and well imbued 

 with the solution of corrosive sublimate, and then placed near 

 a fire, taking care, however, that too great a heat is not 

 applied, as it will utterly destroy the specimen. The Butterfly, 

 Sphinx, and Moth tribes are extremely liable to the attack of 

 mites, and should therefore be frequently examined. 



STORE BOXES. The neatest manner of constructing these, 

 is to have them about a foot square, the top and bottom about 

 two inches deep, on the same principle as backgammon boards, 

 the inside being lined with cork. 



CLASS X ECHINODERMATA. 



All the soft animals of this class ought to be preserved in 

 bottles of spirits. Those with a coriaceous or crustaceous 

 covering may be dried. 



Asterias. STAR-FISH. 



Those Star-fish, which have fragile crustaceous tentacula, 

 are difficult to preserve. They must first be immersed in fresh 

 water for four or five hours, and then extended on a plank of 

 soft wood ; the rays must be properly arranged, and pins used 

 to keep them so, till they are quite dry. These are stuck into 

 the plank, alongside the rays, and not into the rays them- 

 selves. They must not, however, be placed near a fire, or in 

 the rays of the sun, as, in either case, they will have a tendency 

 to change their colours. It is almost invariably found, that all 

 colours in the crustaceous coverings of animals become reddish 

 by exposure to the heat of the sun or of a fire. 



The larger kinds should have the flesh cut out of the inside 

 of the rays, and a little of the dry preservative applied to 

 them. The species called Medusa's Heads undergo the 



